Billy Howerdel Talks About Working with Tool Frontman Maynard
Billy Howerdel just talked about working with Tool frontman Maynard James Keenan. He also tried to introduce Maynard and Trent Reznor.
As we know Billy Howerdel is the founding member, guitarist, songwriter, and producer for A Perfect Circle and Ashes Divide bands. Billy Howerdel has also recorded 6 studio albums across his career: Four of them with A Perfect Circle, one of them with Ashes Divide, and one solo album.
His talent to become a pro musician can be traced back to the early ’90s when he worked as a guitarist engineer and tech for some of the decade’s most revered metal and rock groups and metal bands. It was through this position that he came across the other factor in the success of A Perfect Circle The other factor that made A Perfect Circle successful was Maynard James Keenan of Tool frontman. When they first had a meeting with Keenan in 1992 Keenan and the two became fast friends – in the year 1995 Billy Howerdel would sleep in Maynard‘s home, and towards the end of the decade, A Perfect Circle was in full swing.
In a latest interview with COS, Howerdel opens up for Maynard about how inspired him and their relationship:
“I always feel like my game is elevated around him. Regardless whether it’s in conversation or in the studio with him or on the stage rehearsing or playing. He’s got an energy, and he obviously loves the craft and the business part of it, too. I feel like Maynard has his bearings more solid than most people I know in music. He knows his lane. He knows what he can and can’t do, and he’s great at what he does do. In working for Nine Inch Nails, Sean Beavan was the front-of-house sound guy, but also sort of like a musical director, and very close with Trent. He’s like, ‘Look, Trent doesn’t expect anything from you that he wouldn’t do himself, and he can do a fuck of a lot.'”
“I brought Maynard to the New Orleans studio to meet Trent. I mean, they obviously knew who each other were, but they’d never met. The first day I brought him in there, I remember Trent was literally on the floor with a PC spread out, putting circuit boards together and things like that. And I think it was the moment when Maynard goes, ‘Oh, OK, this guy’s for real.
This isn’t just some guy phoning it in with a pretty face and a couple of lucky songs. This is a guy who’s doing the work. That’s me imagining, because I know Maynard’s work ethic, and I know what things he values.
Trent [Reznor] was and still is a big inspiration, and kind of North Star, for what it is to be a writer, a person looking at technology and how it incorporates into your world. I think it’s inspiring.”
Also added about writing new music for A Perfect Circle:
“Kind of just, at this point, make music and then I’ll present a lot to Maynard and see what’s turning him on. He has to be engaged.”
Listen to Billy Howerdel‘s song below!
